Barack Obama is making sure to stay in his wife’s good graces.
During a one-on-one conversation with Hamilton College President Steven Tepper on Thursday (April 3), the former president opened up about life after the White House and why he’s prioritizing “fun” with former first last Michelle Obama.
“I was in a deep deficit with my wife,” Obama, 63, who has been married to Michelle, 61, since 1992, said. “So, I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things.”
The Democratic leader went on to talk about his life at home with Michelle and their children, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 23, while discussing times he’s been unable to communicate as effectively as he wanted.
“First of all, I constantly lose arguments to my wife, my daughters,” he said. “They mock me and ridicule me at the dinner table.”
The Obamas have been candid about the strain being in the White House put on their relationship in the past.
In December 2022, Michelle said she “couldn’t stand her husband” for a sold decade, noting that she “wasn’t being catty by saying this.”
“There were 10 years where I couldn’t stand my husband, the IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson podcast host said in a conversation with Revolt TV. “And guess when it happened? When those kids were little.”
When Obama was asked about those remarks on CBS Mornings in May 2023, the former president replied, “Let me just say this: it sure helps to be out of the White House. And to have a little more time with her.”
“Michelle, when our girls were growing up, that was priority number one, two, three and four,” he continued.
“And so, I did not fully appreciate, I think, as engaged of a father as I was, the degree of stress and tension for her, knowing that not just me and Michelle were under scrutiny and in this strange environment, but that we were raising our daughters in a kind of situation that just wasn’t normal.”
The Obamas, who lived in the White House from January 2009 to January 2017, have recently been plagued by divorce rumors that seemingly started after the former president attended a handful of political events by himself.
A source close to the couple told Page Six that Michelle is simply “checked out of DC life.”
“They don’t pretend that they have this Camelot relationship. They’re not trying to present that they’re this magical couple.”
As for how the former first last handles online chatter about her marriage, Michelle, who says she’s never “once looked at a comment section,” stated:
“You cannot live through social media. Don’t let that negative energy enter into your space. These are people who don’t know you. A lot of this stuff is made up, and it does not feed you.”
